Matthew Morrison: 'I Want To Do It All'

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Even though he stars in Glee, the wickedly funny Fox-TV show focused on the trials and tribulations of a high school glee club, Matthew Morrison says his own teen years were surprisingly positive. “All the kids in the cast tell me they hated high school, but I had the best time,” he sheepishly admits. “I guess I was one of the popular kids. I played soccer, I was class president—I even dated the homecoming queen.”

Stop! It’s enough to drive the hit show’s audience to distraction. As Will Schuester, the earnest but energetic glee-club director, the 31-year-old Morrison guides a gaggle of talented but mostly socially inept kids through song, dance, and important life lessons. “If I could have written a part for myself, this would have been it,” he says. “It showcases everything I’ve trained for, and it’s the kind of teaching job I could easily have wound up doing myself in real life.”

Small chance of that anymore. After growing up in Orange County, Calif., Morrison lit out for New York in 1997, where he landed his first job on Broadway less than two years later. Most recently, he starred in Lincoln Center’s 2008 revival of South Pacific.See exclusive photos of Matthew Morrison

Having a sandwich and fries at a popular Santa Monica bistro, Morrison is focused, choosing his words carefully and keeping his voice low to save it for rehearsals later that day. Slim and trim, with a five o’clock shadow and a mop of wavy brown hair, he draws admiring glances from bashful fans at tables nearby.

“This is certainly the most recognized I’ve ever been in my life,” he confesses, “but that isn’t necessarily the most positive thing. I don’t like to go out to parties or clubbing, and I kind of like my anonymity. More people saw the pilot of Glee than saw me in my entire 10-year career on Broadway. But people feel more of a connection to you because they see you in their living rooms.”

Morrison credits much of his success as an actor to being an only, and lonely, child. “My mom was an RN and my dad was a midwife, and they were working all the time. I had this wild imagination, and I’d come home after school and stage these whole scenes with my toy knights. I was really lucky when I stumbled into theater. It felt great living in someone else’s skin.” With a shy smile, he adds, “I’m still more comfortable performing than I am talking to you right now.”

Has it always been smooth sailing professionally? Morrison laughs. “I’ve had way more rejections than I’ve had jobs,” he says. “But I don’t consider it rejection anymore—I consider it meeting the people who will take you to the next step. At least I’ve made an impression in their minds.”

How did he come by such confidence? “It’s a front!” he exclaims. “Some performers say it’s so easy, so natural, but I think that’s bull. I still get nervous, but fear is one of the great things that motivates me to be the best I can be.”

Morrison is single and splits his time between L.A. and New York, where he keeps a one-bedroom apartment in the theater district. “I’m still kind of a loner,” he admits. “Even the sports I’m into—running and cycling—are the kind I do myself. I like to throw my bike in the back of my truck, drive out to Malibu, and then bicycle along the Pacific Coast Highway. It gives me a chance to be alone with my thoughts.” See photos of more Stars on Broadway

He has plenty to think about, including plans to record a solo album, and various movie offers that have begun to pour in. “I’d like to think of my career as a chess game, not a checkers game,” Morrison says. “I want to be thinking a couple of moves ahead.

“I hope to be one of those guys who has a strong presence in every genre of the entertainment world. I’ve kind of established myself on Broadway and on TV with Glee, and I’d eventually like to do some film work. I want to do it all.

“I want to be the next Gene Kelly,” he sums up, with a hopeful smile. “Or the first Matt Morrison.”

AMG/Parade Digital

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